Donald Trump fired off a frenzied all-caps Truth Social post begging voters to reject a redistricting plan and “SAVE YOUR COUNTRY” as the president continues to spiral out of control.
Trump, 79, made his latest unhinged outburst as Virginians headed to the polls to decide whether to approve a new congressional map drawn by state Democrats. It could hand their party a shot at flipping multiple U.S. House seats in November’s midterms and, with them, control of the chamber.
“VIRGINIA, VOTE ‘NO’ TO SAVE YOUR COUNTRY!” the president bellowed to his followers, offering no further explanation of how a state-level redistricting ballot held the fate of the nation in its hands.
Tuesday’s desperate plea is the latest episode in a visibly panicked stretch for the president, whom the Daily Beast reported had spent Monday dodging reporters’ cameras for a second straight day as he phoned into a Republican tele-rally to drum up opposition to the plan.
Virginia has become the latest flashpoint in a nationwide gerrymandering arms race that Trump himself kicked off last year when he pressed Texas Republicans to tear up their congressional map mid-decade to pad the GOP’s slim House majority.
His Texas move triggered copycat redraws in Missouri, North Carolina, and Ohio. Together, the four-state redraw could net Republicans up to nine additional House seats, according to the Associated Press. Democrats have counter-drawn in California and now Virginia, with a court-imposed map in Utah handing them a further seat.
Virginia’s congressional delegation currently tilts Democratic, six to five. The redrawn boundaries could flip that to 10-to-1 in the Dems’ favor—including one district that reaches out of heavily Democratic northern Virginia into conservative rural turf.
Former Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin, 59, who preceded Democratic Gov. Abigail Spanberger, called the plan “dishonest” and “brazenly deceptive” at a Monday night rally, AP reported.
Democratic ad buys featuring former President Barack Obama, 64, have flooded Virginia airwaves in the campaign’s closing stretch.
But even if the amendment passes, it may not stick. The state Supreme Court is weighing whether Democratic lawmakers broke their own procedural rules in advancing the measure, after a circuit judge ruled they had.
The Daily Beast has contacted the White House for comment.
